Inagua, the most southerly in the chain of Bahama Islands, lies below the Tropic of Cancer making it a truly tropical isle.ÊWe flew Bahamasair from Marsh Harbour via Nassau to Inagua in about four hours total travel time. Matthew Town, near the southeast tip of the island, is the only town on Inagua and has a population of just over 1000. The main industry on the island is the collection of salt from the extensive pans within Lake Windsor. Morton Salt Company is the only organised industry on Inagua. They harvest and ship an estimated 1.3 million tons of salt from these pans each year. It is possible to see the mountains of white glistening salt from a great distance. A tour of the Morton facility is well worth taking. This salt is destined for table use, both rock and granulated and considered most desirable. To house visiting executives Morton built the "Morton Main House". Although quite old it housed us adequately providing a large, air conditioned room, (one of six) a refrigerator, TV and private bath.
My husband decided that we would visit Inagua to see first hand the famed colony of over 50,000 West Indian Flamingos which live and breed within the salt pans. Their coloration is nothing like the pale pink of the flamingos which I've seen in zoos. These birds are a brilliant deep coral with sharply contrasting beaks and wings edged in black. Flamingos derive coloration from their food, in this case, brine shrimp which are the size of ants but exist in such vast numbers that they colour the water faintly pink. Individually the flamingo is beautiful but when seen in a flock they are breathtaking. The first time a flock flew overhead it was awesome. We spent four days touring the island with Henry Nixon, Warden of the Bahama National Trust (BNT) Park. Mr. Nixon took us in his 4-wheel drive truck many, many miles out into the pans on narrow roads constructed a few feet above high water. It was absolutely impossible for us to tell where we were or how to return to Matthew Town. Without Mr Nixon we would have been hopelessly lost. A strange feeling in this salt laden water world.
An interesting side trip took us to see one of two manned lighthouses left in The Bahamas. Situated on the southwest tip of Inagua it provides a distant view of Cuba and Haiti on a clear day. The only other manned lighthouse is our own candy-striped tourist attraction on Hope Town. All others, including Hole in the Wall light, have been automated.
Flamingos are not the only fascinating bird colonizing here. Roseate Spoonbills breed in good numbers. They are a deep, rich pink and lovely to behold. Shorebirds number in the thousands. We spotted Neotropic Cormorant; Great Blue, Little Blue, Tricolored, Green and Yellow-crowned Night Herons; Snowy and Reddish Egrets; Black-bellied, Snowy and Semipalmated Plovers; Killdeer, American Oystercatcher; Black-necked Stilt; Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs; Black-necked Stilt; Solitary, Spotted, Semipalmated, White-rumped, Least, and Western Sandpipers; Ruddy Turnstone; Sanderling; and a Dunlin in fresh breeding plumage.
We saw Brown Pelican; White-cheeked Pintail (Bahama Duck); Laughing Gull, Royal, Gull-billed, Sandwich and Least Terns; White-winged, Zenaida, Mourning and Ground Doves; Bahama Parrot; Mangrove Cuckoo; Smooth-billed Ani; Burrowing Owl; Antillean Nighthawk; Osprey; American Kestrel; Merlin; Bahama Woodstar; Belted Kingfisher; LaSagra's Flycatcher; Gray Kingbird; Barn Swallow; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; Northern and Bahama Mockingbirds; Thick-billed and Black-whiskered Vireos; Yellow, Cape May, and Palm Warblers; Redstart; Bananaquit; Black-faced Grassquit; Great Antilean Bullfinch; and the inevitable House Sparrow.
Venturing ten miles to sea with local fishermen Magnificent Frigatebird, White-tailed Tropicbird, Pomarine Jaeger and Audubon's Sheerwater were spotted as well as Roseate, Sooty and Bridled Terns. Birds were not the only 'catch'. In just two hours these fisherman hauled in 6 Yellow-Fin Tuna and 21 Bonita by following the sea birds. Thus both birders and fishermen were rewarded.
Two very special finds were the Pearly-eyed Thrasher and a rare sighting of a Whiskered Tern. Presently there is only one confirmed sighting of this Tern in the Western Hemisphere, although they are common in the Old World. We saw many while living in England, South Africa and Australia. Two rolls of film have confirmed Woody's sighting with several experts thus far. It was, indeed, an exciting moment.
Inagua is not a destination for the average tourist yet it is an important refuge for the West Indian Flamingo. It was the first park established by the Bahama National Trust to preserve the largest breeding colony of West Indian Flamingos in the world. We are fortunate to have the Abaco National Park, 20,500 acres of pine forest/coppice which is the principal habitat for the endangered Bahama Parrot found only on Inagua and Abaco. More and more tourists are attracted to Abaco to see this parrot as they are to Inagua to view the vast number of flamingos. Ron and Erin Pagliaro of Abaco Outback take birders to the southern part of Abaco to see the Bahama Parrots. There are a total of 12 national parks or preserves throughout The Bahamas established and supported by the BNT for the preservation of wildlife as well as endemic flora. Many Abaconians support the Trust and for those who wish to donate to these world recognised conservation projects contributions can be made to: Bahama National Trust, c/o Lynn Gape, P O Box N4105, Nassau, Bahamas.
HTML Copyright © 2001-2003, awsltd.net